PPACA’s Health Insurance Tax holding back job creation at the small business level

On Dec. 7, 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the national unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent in November and the U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs.

The Stop The HIT Coalition issued the following statement:

“Today’s improved jobs outlook does little for small businesses facing a tsunami of uncertainty due to the impending fiscal cliff and taxes on the horizon, including the $87 billion Health Insurance Tax in 2014. Lawmakers continue to speak on the importance of small business to job creation and economic growth, but the lack of action to repeal outrageous costs on our job creators is holding back progress at both the local and national levels.”

The Daily Caller reports following the presidential election, the HIT passed as part of the healthcare reform law, continues to be a top concern for small businesses. Citing last week’s Gallup Small Business Index findings that small business optimism has dropped to its lowest point since July 2010, the Daily Caller notes how the HIT is hurting hiring at the small business level.

A new report from Oliver Wyman confirms the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) will cause a significant and continuing rise in the cost of health insurance premiums, with employees in some states facing an increase in excess of $9,000 if the tax is not repealed. These increasing premiums are a sign that, not only will the tax significantly increase costs to employers for any new hires, but also to the employees themselves.

The HIT is one of the largest tax increases included in the healthcare reform law and its fees will fall largely on the small business community:

• The HIT will impact 2 million small businesses, 12 million employees and the self-employed who purchase their own policies in the individual market and 26 million employees who are covered by their employers;
• Studies show that, on average, the HIT will cost each family about $500 a year or $5,000 in higher premiums over the next decade;
• The HIT would reduce private sector employment by between 125,000 and 249,000 jobs in 2021; and
• The HIT would reduce U.S. real output (sales) in 2021 by between $18 billion and $30 billion.

Legislation aimed at repealing the HIT has gained bipartisan support in Congress. Representatives Charles Boustany (R-LA) and Dan Boren (D-OK) have introduced legislation that has 227 bipartisan cosponsors. Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) have introduced companion legislation, “The Jobs and Premium Protection Act.”

The Stop The HIT Coalition represents the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed who are actively working to repeal the Health Insurance Tax. Since the Coalition’s formation in May 2011, it has grown to include more than 35 national organizations, representing millions of small business owners across the country.  The Coalition’s website enables small business owners and employees to sign a petition and write a letter to their elected official urging them to repeal this tax on its Take Action page.

Learn more at http://www.stopthehit.com/.